CHICAGO, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Federal investigators said they were looking Sunday for the reason an engine cowling fell off an airliner at a Chicago airport.
Spirit Airlines Flight 409 returned safely to O'Hare International Airport on Saturday after a warning light came on moments after takeoff.
Elizabeth Isham Cory, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told the Chicago Tribune the Airbus A319 landed without the covering for the right engine, which was later found by searchers on airport property and turned over to the agency.
The plane had been en route to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "Spirit seemed to do a pretty good job getting all the passengers rerouted, especially those with connections," Chad Musolf, 36, Boca Raton, Fla., told reporters. "That said, it took them a while to figure everything out after we got off the crippled aircraft ... A lot of passengers were confused and frustrated."
Some passengers said they had little indication what had gone wrong as the plane returned to O'Hare. Others seated near the right wing, however, were shaken from their early-morning doldrums by the sight of the metal cowling peeling away.
"I was thanking God that they noticed it right away," Robert Smith, 43, Bellwood, Ill., told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I don't think we would have made it to Florida."
